INTERVIEW WITH LEVI VAN VELUW

Levi Van Veluw's work is as entrancing as it is thought provoking. He is usually the object and takes all the photographs himself too. He obscures his face with various objects working around the contours on his face so that his facial features are still intact and noticeable. He was born in Hoevelaken, the Netherlands and attended ARTEZ institute of the arts, Arnhem.

When did you realize you had a special talent in the arts?

L.V: That's something you don't realize yourself. I think talent is just 20%, the other part is a matter of hard work, self-motivation and discipline.

What was your experience like at Artez art School?

L.V: I had chosen a department (free art) where you didn't have to choose a discipline. The last 2 years you are completely free, only four appointments in a month. It’s a time of experimenting and finding out what you really want.

How did you derive your style of art, was it by happenstance, you know looking at your face in the mirror and making various expressions?

L.V: In the beginning I used my face to work out small concepts. I had a lot of ideas and very less time. I made the decision to use myself to work these concepts out.

Your work in the material transfer series are my favorite, can you tell a little bit about the entire process of conception and creation?

L.V: The Material Transfer series were all completed and photographed within a time frame of 24 hours and without any digital manipulation. Giving familiar elements such as cheap carpet, pebble stones and sterling wood a new context results in a confusing conflict between the objects normal associations and the new values assigned to it in the works. I interrogate the attributes of daily life. Although it seems as if the actual material is the object of my observation, it is in fact their metaphoric use in daily life that interests me most: the significance people attach to the things that surround them.

Can you tell me a bit about your new work that would be presented at gallery Ronmandos on the 8th of February?

L.V: It is a photo series with light foil. Visibility of this creative process is reduced. Under the working title 'Light', I covered my head with strokes of light generating foil and photographed in total darkness. The highly radiant bright blue light produced by this material, allows it to stand out as an autonomous object. Forgotten are the features of my face, only its shape discernable in the route that each stroke of light takes. Light becomes form and it stands free from any 'original' subject. It is this 'invisibility' of the production processes that creates the freedom in this image.

Finally some words of motivation to everyone out there chasing his/her dreams related to art:

L.V: You have to realize that there is nothing fancy about creating autonomous art. It's really hard work and you need lots of self discipline and motivation. Don't be insecure about your ideas.

Originally done for Dazed Digital.com